I'm looking for a midbass driver to use in a small sealed enclosure along the lines of the Heybrook HB1 or Acoustic Research AR18. I'd like something with a paper cone, ideally with a nice smooth midband so that I can skip the low-pass section of the crossover and use a super-simple 1st order crossover on the tweeter alone.
The Vifa m21 would have been on the shortlist but at current prices is out of my price range.
I've been quite impressed with the Altai / Eagle / Soundlab L032D. Specs are pretty thin on the ground and the design seems to have changed somewhat recently, but it's got a nice compliant suspension and seems to give pretty decent bass performance in this sort of design. However the midband sounds a little peaky to my ears so would require some taming.
Any other ideas? The cheaper the better
The Vifa m21 would have been on the shortlist but at current prices is out of my price range.
I've been quite impressed with the Altai / Eagle / Soundlab L032D. Specs are pretty thin on the ground and the design seems to have changed somewhat recently, but it's got a nice compliant suspension and seems to give pretty decent bass performance in this sort of design. However the midband sounds a little peaky to my ears so would require some taming.
Any other ideas? The cheaper the better
Maybe this is of interest to you.
8" Audax AP210Z0 / HP210ZO
http://www.audax.com/archives/ap210z0.pdf
http://www.exdreamnet.de/magazin/images/stories/chassis/audax_HP210Z0/HP210Z0.PDF
AUDAX
You can also consider for the quality/price (£33.97 inc VAT),
Beyma 8BR40/N
http://profesional.beyma.com/pdf/8BR40NE.pdf
Beyma :: Beyma 8BR40/N ONLY 33.97
8" Audax AP210Z0 / HP210ZO
http://www.audax.com/archives/ap210z0.pdf
http://www.exdreamnet.de/magazin/images/stories/chassis/audax_HP210Z0/HP210Z0.PDF
AUDAX
You can also consider for the quality/price (£33.97 inc VAT),
Beyma 8BR40/N
http://profesional.beyma.com/pdf/8BR40NE.pdf
Beyma :: Beyma 8BR40/N ONLY 33.97
I liked the Sica 8H1CS in a closed box. Lowish rms, good x-max. Used it as a replacement for friends with foamrot on their woofers. This woofer can move some air +3 extra points for looking cool, beeing very cheap and having proper TSP measurements with it, which is exceptional for this price range.
Maybe a f.a.s.t with this one: Visaton FRS5X if you like paper tweeters
Maybe a f.a.s.t with this one: Visaton FRS5X if you like paper tweeters
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bluetomgold,
I don't think you can buy a cheap driver for a speaker "à lá" Dynaco, or "à lá" Mordaunt Short for the same effect. Actually those were the best drivers and quality pays if not you are being naive. Just to mention that Peter Comeau wanted to do some new Dynaco projects with new Seas drivers and he ended up with very complex crossovers designs.
http://user.faktiskt.se/M_N/WD25T_Part1.pdf
Designing Loudspeakers - WD25A The Final Crossover
Here the old school Dynaco project.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/238233-need-help-replacement-8-woofer-selection.html
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/227534-drivers-smooth-roll-off.html
I don't think you can buy a cheap driver for a speaker "à lá" Dynaco, or "à lá" Mordaunt Short for the same effect. Actually those were the best drivers and quality pays if not you are being naive. Just to mention that Peter Comeau wanted to do some new Dynaco projects with new Seas drivers and he ended up with very complex crossovers designs.
http://user.faktiskt.se/M_N/WD25T_Part1.pdf
Designing Loudspeakers - WD25A The Final Crossover
Here the old school Dynaco project.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/238233-need-help-replacement-8-woofer-selection.html
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/227534-drivers-smooth-roll-off.html
Funny that you should say that. The Peerless SKO204s smaller brother is the Peerless SKO165 that was used in the rather nice (IMO) Kef coda 8.
Fane 8-225 measures well for the crap price.
http://www.prodance.cz/files/dl/2/2072/fane_sovereign_8-225_new_2011.pdf
Last time i looked this forum was called Diyaudio
Edit- forgot about the "skip" the low pass and go for only 1 component x-over. Maybe Visaton W200 E? But that's not a papercone. Visaton FRS5X is not a crap tweeter. It's quite commonly used in Germany with good results. 800Hz 6dB would be possible if you flatten it's impendance.
http://www.prodance.cz/files/dl/2/2072/fane_sovereign_8-225_new_2011.pdf
Last time i looked this forum was called Diyaudio
Edit- forgot about the "skip" the low pass and go for only 1 component x-over. Maybe Visaton W200 E? But that's not a papercone. Visaton FRS5X is not a crap tweeter. It's quite commonly used in Germany with good results. 800Hz 6dB would be possible if you flatten it's impendance.
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I'm looking for a midbass driver to use in a small sealed enclosure along the lines of the Heybrook HB1 or Acoustic Research AR18. I'd like something with a paper cone, ideally with a nice smooth midband so that I can skip the low-pass section of the crossover and use a super-simple 1st order crossover on the tweeter alone.
The Vifa m21 would have been on the shortlist but at current prices is out of my price range.
I've been quite impressed with the Altai / Eagle / Soundlab L032D. Specs are pretty thin on the ground and the design seems to have changed somewhat recently, but it's got a nice compliant suspension and seems to give pretty decent bass performance in this sort of design. However the midband sounds a little peaky to my ears so would require some taming.
Any other ideas? The cheaper the better
Here is a 6.5 aluminum cone and cast frame driver I used 2 with vifa tweeter to make a very nice 2way system, I crossed at coming out my sub 20/ 100 /3500/ they sound great and don't break the bank
. MCM Part #: 55-3862
Thanks for all your input and ideas. To clarify, the idea here is to see what's possible with a cheap driver. It's a challenge.
Of course you get what you pay for but IME there are cheap woofers out there which sound good, and there have been some great designs of this type over the years in which the midbass drivers were not at all exotic (e.g. Kef Coda 2, Acoustic Research AR18).
As to tweeters, I have a reasonable quantity of Morel MDT40s and 38s which I need to do something with. I know these will be forgiving of a basic crossover and they sound pretty decent.
The idea is to produce a prototype and if I can get it to sound any good, go into small scale production. I work in a HiFi shop and we've produced and sold our own speakers successfully before, I just want to try something different this time. Because of my job I also have access to some nice used cabinets which have been scrapped due to having blown drivers. I have two pairs of Wharfedale Denton XP2 cabinets here which I plan to use for prototyping.
Got a pair of the L03Ds to get me started, I also like the look of the Sica 8H1CS mentioned, and the Peerless SKO204 is too cheap to ignore - in fact I'll order a pair tonight. This isn't going to happen all that quickly, too many other projects on the go, but I sincerely welcome all your input!
Of course you get what you pay for but IME there are cheap woofers out there which sound good, and there have been some great designs of this type over the years in which the midbass drivers were not at all exotic (e.g. Kef Coda 2, Acoustic Research AR18).
As to tweeters, I have a reasonable quantity of Morel MDT40s and 38s which I need to do something with. I know these will be forgiving of a basic crossover and they sound pretty decent.
The idea is to produce a prototype and if I can get it to sound any good, go into small scale production. I work in a HiFi shop and we've produced and sold our own speakers successfully before, I just want to try something different this time. Because of my job I also have access to some nice used cabinets which have been scrapped due to having blown drivers. I have two pairs of Wharfedale Denton XP2 cabinets here which I plan to use for prototyping.
Got a pair of the L03Ds to get me started, I also like the look of the Sica 8H1CS mentioned, and the Peerless SKO204 is too cheap to ignore - in fact I'll order a pair tonight. This isn't going to happen all that quickly, too many other projects on the go, but I sincerely welcome all your input!
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I found this old thread when looking for options to refurbish an old pair of Wharfedale Denton XP2s. I decided I like the old style cases so much that I would clean them up and repopulate them.
I thought Phenoholic Anonymus' proposal looked the most promising and jumped on board with a couple of the SICA speakers.
I'm puzzled that the power ratings of the SICA and Visaton are so different; probably a gap in my education
Rather than a crossover, I'm giving strong consideration to putting 30W bi-amps in each speaker to adapt them for a home electronic music set up.
I thought Phenoholic Anonymus' proposal looked the most promising and jumped on board with a couple of the SICA speakers.
I'm puzzled that the power ratings of the SICA and Visaton are so different; probably a gap in my education
Rather than a crossover, I'm giving strong consideration to putting 30W bi-amps in each speaker to adapt them for a home electronic music set up.
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